Color Me Kubrick

Brian Cook

Plot Summary

In the mid-'90s, an Englishman by the name of Alan Conway (John Malkovich) conned many people into believing that he was the reclusive American director Stanley Kubrick, despite the fact that Conway was openly gay, bore no physical resemblance to Kubrick, and knew little about the director's work. Conway's story has been loosely adapted into the comedic feature Colour Me Kubrick. Anthony Frewin, who worked as Kubrick's personal assistance for many years, wrote the script, and Brian Cook, who served as Kubrick's assistant director on several films, including Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut, marks his directorial debut with the film. Colour Me Kubrick follows Conway on a number of adventures, wherein he cadges drinks, cash, sex, and more from unsuspecting victims, ranging from a heavy metal band to a wine bar owner (Richard E. Grant) to a British lounge singer (British television comic Jim Davidson making his feature-film debut), who are awestruck by his purported fame and fortune, and willing to overlook Conway's genuinely bizarre behavior in the hopes of impressing the great director. Conway's act reached its pinnacle when he temporarily pulled the wool over the eyes of then-New York Times theater critic Frank Rich (William Hootkins). Colour Me Kubrick features cameos by Ken Russell, Honor Blackman, Peter Sallis, and Marc Warren. The French production had its international premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival.

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Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews

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Top Critics' Reviews

Rotten: Once the movie gets started, it doesn't know where to go or how to end. It more or less repeats itself. – Stephen Holden, New York Times, Jul 16, 2008

Rotten: Director Brian W. Cook should know that hopes are seldom high for movies that debut on DVD the same day they hit the multiplex. – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone, Aug 4, 2007

Fresh: Scarcely an insightful biographical portrait, Color Me Kubrick is still interesting, perhaps even intimidating, as a study of the way fandom can so readily be turned against itself. – Ed Gonzalez, Los Angeles Times, Sep 20, 2007

Fresh: Colour Me Kubrick earns a place on the shelf where all the oddballs reside, defying us to come up with reasons to justify their idiosyncratic existences -- and perhaps not caring whether we do. – Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News, Jun 24, 2010